Legacy of the Body Flicker
by lioncousin
Summary: Shisui Uchiha was a prodigy. Many feared his talents died with his passing. However when his younger brother, Arata Uchiha miraculously survived the Uchiha Massacre he made it his personal mission to become someone his late brother would be proud of. Someone who could carry on his legacy.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So this is my side project for when I'm not working on Fate New Rebellion. I always liked Shisui so I thought about a way to continue his legacy. Also this story does not have a beta so there will be mistakes. I'll try my best to catch them but they will apppear.**

 **XxXxXx**

"Sasuke-kun! Arata-kun!"

My ears pick up the noise of the screeching banshees known as fangirls, and Sasuke and I haven't even been in the academy classroom for more than a minute. I let a loose sigh escape my lips as I glance over towards my cousin. Who I can tell is already getting annoyed with the day before it has even begun.

Truthfully I sometimes curse our Uchiha lineage. Hasn't done the two of us much good afterall...

"Why can't they take a hint and just buzz off like the gnats they are." Sasuke asked me, his chin still resting on his hands.

I just lean back in my chair. "I truthfully don't know. I wish I could understand why they can't see we aren't interested. If I wouldn't get in trouble for it I probably would have shown them how proficient our Katon is." I reply.

"Hnn."

That was enough for me to know that Sasuke agreed, but was already done with trying to comprehend the reasoning behind all the girls throwing themselves at us. Sometimes I wondered if I shaved my head and came to class dressed like a complete slob if they would leave me alone. Sadly I couldn't leave Sasuke to fend for himself. He would try and burn me with a friendly fireball if I did. Most importantly I like my spiky, yet slightly wavy hair. It reminded me of Shisui-nii a little.

My face gets slightly more sullen at the thought of my deceased older brother. Thinking of him reminds me of the rest of the clan, and there we go. Instantly more depressed.

"We'll kill him Arata."

I look over towards Sasuke. Although most wouldn't be able to tell I could see that there was some concern for me in his eyes. I let a small smile reach my face. Even though Sasuke and I have lost almost everything we still look out for each other. I must have had some sort of look on my face for Sasuke to be worried.

"Yeah, we'll make sure we get him back, together." I reply with a soft smile his way to let him know I was fine.

Sasuke focuses back on the front of the class, his job done.

The next couple minutes pass by slowly as Sasuke and I waited for the rest of our class to arrive. I could hear in the background how Naruto was yelling about how he became a ninja. Truthfully I was happy for him. He was really distraught when he was told he failed the graduation exam. Obviously something happened, he's here now and as energetic as always. It also seems that Iruka-sensei was delighted to see Naruto within the graduating class. The man always looked out for the blonde, even if he was strict with him.

"You seem happy that the dobe is here." Sasuke said.

I just looked at my cousin giving him a small smile. "I know you're not his biggest fan, but he's not too bad. He's just an idiot sometimes." I replied.

Sasuke just gave me a knowing look.

"Alright, he's an idiot a lot of the time, but he's still a friend. That's enough reason to be happy for him. He was really distraught when he originally failed" I said.

"Maybe they passed him out of pity, or they just didn't want to deal with the dobe anymore." Sasuke said with a bored look.

"No need to say anything like that. He passed for a reason and I doubt they would pass someone out of pity. Being a ninja is a serious occupation." I quipped back.

"Hnn."

'Typical response.' I thought. After the massacre Sasuke and I had it rough but we had each other. Sasuke became really anti-social and practically stopped talking to everyone but me. Luckily I had a couple friends that were able to help me through the years, and in turn I was able to help Sasuke not be as broody. He's still really reclusive, but he'll at least stick around me while I interact with my small group of friends. I truthfully don't know what he and I would be like if we didn't have each other.

"Hey Arata! I passed, I'm a genin now, wouldn't it be awesome if we could be on a team together. We would kick so much ass!" Naruto said as he crouched on the desk Sasuke and I were sitting on.

Sasuke looked a little annoyed at Naruto's behavior, but he didn't let is show besides a small twitch of his brow.

"I don't doubt it Naruto, I'm happy to see that you passed." I told him, genuinely happy for him.

"I learned this super awesome jutsu too, I can't wait to show you later it's so much better than that bushin they tried to teach us in the academy!"

"That's great." I said, it was really all I could say with the Uzumaki getting closer and closer to me as he talked about how great he was.

"Shut up dobe and go to your seat. You're being annoying as usual." Sasuke said.

"Nobody asked you teme! I'm a ninja just like you so you could stop acting all high and mighty with that duckbutt hair of yours." Naruto shot back at my cousin.

'Oh gosh things are about to get ugly.' I thought.

Glancing at Sasuke I could see the "duckbutt" comment really annoyed him, and he is really using all of his self control to not attack Naruto on the spot.

"Naruto, can you calm down for a second, Arata-kun's ear is probably ringing from you yelling in it even though you're right next to him. And Sasuke looks like he's going to shove a fist in your face if you don't back away soon. I also know you want to hear the team assignments. Iruka-sensei is about to give them out ." Ino told the erratic blonde.

Naruto at least looked a little embarrassed and started rubbing the back of his neck, a sheepish smile on his face before walking to take a seat in an empty desk.

"Thanks Ino-chan." I tell the blonde girl.

She used to be a fangirl but a couple months after the massacre she gave me and Sasuke a small bouquet of white carnations and told us that the meaning behind them was honor and remembrance, it was for our clan. Since then Ino and I have been good friends, and even Sasuke accepts her around us without an issue. She's still a flirt at moments but it's how she is.

Ino just gave me a small wink and sat back down in her seat.

I focus my attention back to the front of the class where Iruka was.

"First off I just want to say how proud of each and every one of you I am." Iruka told the whole class.

"You all worked hard, and despite the trials each of you succeeded in one way or another to make it here today." Iruka-sensei looked at Naruto with a glint of pride in his eyes. I don't think the rest of the class noticed.

"Also I am always here to be of help to all of you. Although everyone has graduated from the academy I will always be happy to assist anyone. You will forever have been my precious students. Now onto team assignments."

Iruka cleared his voice. "Team one will be Gin Tanaka, Suzuya Watanabe, and Sakura Haruno."

I heard Sasuke let loose a small sigh of relief beside me.

"Happy your number one fan won't be on you team?" I teased my cousin.

He sent a small glare my way, but I knew he meant no harm from it. That's just how Sasuke is.

"Ever since she thought you and Ino were a thing she doubled her efforts to try and catch my attention. It's been a true test of my patience. So yes, I am relieved" Sasuke replied. Even he couldn't stop the small smirk emerging on his face knowing he won't be on the same team as his most annoying fangirl.

"You think we'll be on the same team Sasuke?" I ask him.

"Of course, They can't seperate us. If they try I'll go to the Hokage myself." Sasuke replied instantly.

I nodded, satisfied with his answer. Truthfully I fully expected us to be on the same team. Of course the possibility of us being on different teams was in the air, but with what Sasuke and I have been through it would be stupid to split up the last two remaining Uchiha in Konoha. We help keep each other in line. I just wanted to hear from Sasuke that he wants us on the same team. He isn't very good at expressing himself, so hearing him say that he would take it up with the Hokage if he had to made me feel good.

"It's good to hear that my moody cousin actually cares about me enough he would even go so far as talk to the Hokage. How about you give me a hug." I said, arms wide.

Sadly Sasuke's hand stopped me from approaching, a sigh escaped his lips.

"Baka, stop that. We're Uchiha, act like it. You're almost as bad as the dobe right now." My cousin said, but there was no stone in his voice. There might have even been a very small smile on his face.

"Team Seven will consist of Arata Uchiha-"

Sasuke and I both heard my name called and immediately turned our attention to Iruka-sensei.

"Sasuke Uchiha-"

With Sasuke's name called relief flooded the both of us. We were together, truthfully it didn't matter who our final teammate was at this point.

"and Naruto Uzumaki."

Could have been worse, could have been better. I have no problems with Naruto being on my team even though Sasuke looked a little annoyed about it., he at least accepts that Naruto is stuck with us now.

A loud bang was heard and the next thing everyone knew Naruto had his foot on the desk.

"Hey,what's the deal? Why does a great a ninja like me have to be paired up with someone like Sasuke?! Arata I can understand. He's at least cool, but Sasuke Iruka-sensei? Come on, we can do better than that. Why not Sakura or someone?" Naruto complained.

I was content with just drifting off into my own thoughts but Naruto of course had to say something. I was slightly amused with how he complimented me and said Sasuke wasn't all that great when my cousin and I had very similar scores. His being just a tad better overall.

Iruka-sensei looked annoyed and was pinching the brow of his nose, probably to stop himself from having to yell at Naruto on graduation day.

"The reason the team is like this Naruto is because Sasuke scored the highest overall in the academy with Arata just barely below him. While you scored the worst. So we placed the highest scores with the lowest to balance everything out." Iruka finished.

I just watched Naruto sink back into his seat. I couldn't help but chuckle inside slightly at the blonde. The situation was just too comical for me. I truly hope our Jonin-sensei can handle Naruto as well as Iruka. If not I have no clue the mischief he would cause.

My face scrunched up a little bit. The thought of an uncontrolled Naruto sent chills down my spine. Not a good thought at all.

The rest of the team assignments went by without incident. With the makeup of Teams Eight, and Ten being the only other teams of interest.

Team Eight consisted of Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame. A pretty fierce tracking squad from the looks of it. Team Ten seemed to be an attempt at recreating the famous Ino-Shika-Cho formation with Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji being put on the same team. Ino put on a face of being upset but truthfully I think she was happy with the assignment. She was already friends with the other two boys. It could have ended a lot worse.

After team assignments were handed out most teams Jonin instructors came to pick up their squads. I said most because after an hour of waiting Sasuke, Naruto, and I were still waiting in the classroom.

"I'm actually worried by this point. If our sensei is this late on the first day it doesn't really bode well for our future." I said in annoyance.

"Yeah! What's the big deal anyways? Everyone else have probably already started going on missions and are already training by now. I can't fall behind." Naruto complained.

Sasuke decided not to comment but I could see he was also annoyed by how late our sensei was, whoever he or she is supposed to be.

"Well I propose we go grab something to eat." I said to my team. It would be a good way to pass the time, and if our sensei does arrive after we have left then he'll just have to find us. this was getting ridiculous and I want some food.

"Fine." Sasuke said in response.

"Can I come too? I'll deal with the teme if I have to." Naruto asked.

"Sure, but we're not doing ramen. That stuff is fine every once in awhile but I truly don't see how you can eat so much of it. Sasuke and I are choosing the restaurant." I told him.

Even though we weren't going to be having ramen Naruto just seemed glad to be grabbing food with other people. Something I have noticed whenever I do invite him to eat with me and Sasuke.

After a brief walk we ended up in front of Yakiniku Q. What could arguably be the best barbeque restaurant in Konoha. The food here is great and reasonably priced for the quality.

"Welcome to Yakiniku Q! Will it just be the three of you today?" Our host asked the three of us.

I was about to reply until a familiar voice spoke up first.

"Actually no. The three of them are with us."

I turned towards the source of the voice and was pleasantly surprised to see Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji. There was also an older man behind them, putting out a cigarette as he walked into the establishment.

'He must be their Jonin-sensei.' I thought.

"Now Ino, I know I said I was going to take you three out to eat but that doesn't mean you can extend that offer to your friends." The Jonin said light heartedly.

The Jonin then turned towards us. "So why are you three freshly minted Genin here and not with your sensei?"

"Well after waiting for an hour for him to show up the three of us thought it would be better to grab something to eat." I offered meekly.

Sasuke sighed before looking at me. "Arata, he's just messing with us. Don't be so nervous."

I could only chuckle in response.

"Your teammate is right, young man. The name is Asuma, and from what you said about your Jonin-sensei being late I feel like I know who he is. You can hang out with us until he comes get you three. It'll serve him right for being late all the time with you guys not being there." The now named Asuma told us.

"You guys are going to be stuck with us. What are we, your babysitters? What a drag." Shikamaru said.

"I don't want to hear that from someone as lazy as you Shikamaru." Ino snapped back in our defense.

Asuma just continued to smile at his genin's antics while Choji looked impatiently at the trays of food being brought around throughout the restaurant.

"Umm, how about we grab a table and get some food before Choji loses his patience. I also don't think he's the only one hungry either." I said to everyone, my own stomach complaining at the lack of food in it.

After a couple minutes the seven of us were seated. Ino and the rest of her group were on one side of the table while Sasuke, Naruto, and I were on the other. In the meantime we were just waiting for our order of ribs to arrive.

"So Arata, Naruto, Sasuke. How would you like to learn a little about your Jonin-sensei?"

All of us perked up a little at the idea of learning about our mysterious and ever so late sensei.

"I'll take the interest in your eyes as a yes. Anyways if my hunch is correct then your sensei is probably going to be Kakashi." Asuma began.

'Kakashi. I'll have to look into him later.' I thought.

"Kakashi is definitely one of the strongest if not the strongest Jonin in the village currently."

Now that statement took me by surprise. Even Naruto seemed to have been paying deep attention, and Sasuke no longer had a bored look on his face.

"That sounds so awesome, hey Arata, teme, our sensei sounds like he'll be able to make us super strong!" Naruto excitedly said

Observing that look on Asuma's face it seems as if there's more to Kakashi though than being really powerful.

"Well theoretically yes, Kakashi should be able to make you three very capable shinobi." Asuma replied.

"You said theoretically. What do you mean by that?" Sasuke asked.

I myself was curious as well.

Asuma sighed softly. "What I mean is that although Kakashi is strong and should be able to make the three of you strong he has never passed a team of Genin before."

"What?" I asked the shock evident in my voice.

"Pass a team of Genin? I thought we already passed the exam for becoming Genin." Sasuke said.

"Yeah, what's up with that? The three of us worked hard for this." Naruto put in.

"Well some Jonin-sensei give their selected teams a second test to pass to see if they're ready to become ninja. I don't distribute an extra exam for my team but I do know that Kakashi does and no one has been able to pass his." Asuma replied rubbing the back of his neck. He was probably thinking about whether he should have told us or not.

"Now Asuma, are you scaring my cute Genin with your stories." A voice said from behind us.

Team Seven turned around to gaze upon who was most likely our Jonin sensei. He had what looked like gravity defying silver hair on a sharp face. His Konoha Hitai-ate covered his left eye, and finally he had a face mask covering his lips and nose. Truthfully the only thing you could see was his right eye and hair.

"Kakashi, I would never in my wildest dreams scare these Genin here. I was just informing them of a couple things about what it means to be a Shinobi. Besides you were late again. So I was just watching over them for the meantime" Asuma replied.

"Well I guess that settles it then. Thank you for watching my little ducklings here Asuma."

'Did he just call us ducklings?' I thought, completely gobsmacked.

The silver haired Jonin then turned towards us and… 'Wait, was his eye smiling? How does he do that?' Now I was just intrigued. I was actually kind of impressed with how his face did that.

"Come along ducklings we have a lot to catch up on." Kakashi told us before leading us out of Yakiniku Q.

"Kakashi-sensei we haven't even received our food yet." Naruto complained.

"Well that really sucks, but we have to get going right now. We have team activities to be working on. You could grab some food to feed your sad stomachs later." Kakashi replied to the blonde.

Naruto just grumbled as he followed behind what appeared to be our sensei. Sasuke looked slightly peeved but followed as well. I was the last one to leave and caught a smile of condolence from both Asuma and Ino.

Once outside the restaurant Kakashi led us back to the top of the academy before making us all take a seat. Supposedly we were going to "learn about each other" sounds so exciting.

"Well I would first off like to say that it is nice to finally meet the three of you. I apologize for being late. I got lost on the road to life and it took me a good bit to find my path again." Kakashi explained smiling through his mask.

'Does he really expect us to buy that lame excuse?' I thought.

"That's total crap." Sasuke said. Obviously not accepting our sensei's excuse.

"And I don't think I like you very much." Kakashi replied cheerfully.

Naruto and I both sweatdropped at how blunt our sensei was. Things are starting off great, I can tell we are going to be such a happy group.

"Now that I know which of you three I care for the least how about we start of by getting to know each other. For example our likes and dislikes, our dreams for the future, and hobbies. I'll be kind and start off and show you kiddos how it's done." Kakashi cleared his throat.

"My name is Hatake Kakashi. Things I like and things I hate? I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future? Never really thought about that. As for my hobbies... I have lots of hobbies. Your turn." Kakashi finished with what I am going to refer to as an eye smile.

'We actually learned nothing about him.' I thought.

"Well my name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen and dislike the time it takes for ramen to cook. My dream is to become Hokage and to make it so that the village recognizes me for who I am! My hobby is to test out the many different kinds of ramen at Ichiraku's, oh and to train." Naruto finished.

Kakashi was nodding seeming to look like he was taking in what Naruto said but I wasn't completely sure if the Jonin actually cared all that much about what the blonde just said.

"Alright Naruto, thank you. You're turn broody." Kakashi said looking at Sasuke.

Sasuke tsked, placing his head on his hands. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I like to train and become stronger with my cousin Arata. I dislike a lot of things including having my time wasted. My dream isn't going to be left as just a dream. I am going to defeat a certain someone with Arata's help and bring this someone to justice. My hobby is also training."

"Well that wasn't as dark as I expected if I am going to be completely honest. Now onto the last of my little ducklings." Kakashi said smiling at me through his mask.

"Well my name is Uchiha Arata. I also enjoy training with Sasuke as well as sitting at the docks and watching the water or just sitting at the side of lakes in general. I find it relaxing. I am starting to dislike being called a "little duckling". My dream is to also bring a certain individual to justice, and make sure that the memory of my brother is remembered. My favorite hobby is reading." I told the Jonin.

Kakashi nodded once again before standing up. "Well it seems to me each of you are diverse and special. Some of you might be more special than others."

I don't think he meant that in a positive way.

"Now I am sure Asuma has already mentioned something about it, so to satisfy all of your curiosity, yes. I am administering my own examination to see if you are capable of being called Konoha Shinobi. And yes, no one has yet passed."

The pressure behind those words were bearing down on the three of us. This was serious, but the three of us were also serious about becoming Shinobi. We won't fail. Seeing how Kakashi has a genuine look of interest on his face I am positive Naruto and Sasuke have a similar look of determination on their faces as well.

"Oh? You three look determined. I might like you all a little more than I did originally now. Duckbutt you're still on the bottom though."

A visible tick appeared on Sasuke's at being called duckbutt again. I'm wondering if Kakashi somehow overheard Naruto making that comment earlier or if Sasuke's hair really does resemble a duck's butt.

"Anyways my test is a survival test. Be at training field three by five o'clock in the morning." The Jonin said before climbing up on the railing, about to jump down when he suddenly turned towards us.

"Oh, and don't eat breakfast. You'll puke." Kakashi finished with that oh so impressive eye smile of his. Giving us his last little bit of information he disappeared.

'Tomorrow could very well be really shitty.' I thought.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here's chapter 2. Thank you to everyone who decided to favorite and follow this story. Also thank you TheHollowClown for reviewing. It truthfully means a lot receiving feedback. I'm still a little under practiced for fight scenes so I hope this ended up alright. Also remember this fic does not have a beta so there will be errors. I'll try my best to catch as many as I can but I can't say I will catch everything. Anyways I hope everyone enjoys.**

 **XxXxXx**

"Hey Sasuke, It's been at least thirty minutes." I told my cousin. As Sasuke, Naruto and I stood in the middle of training field three. No Jounin in sight.

"I'm well aware of that fact. You think he's going to be late again?" Sasuke replied. While Naruto was still trying to get his body to fully wake up. The poor guy is definitely not use to waking up this early. Sasuke and I on occasion wake up around this time for extra training so we're more used to it.

I looked around the training ground. Trying to sense Kakashi's presence. I couldn't detect a single trace of the Jounin in the general area, but I'm not naive enough to believe that means he isn't here. The man is a Jonin and according to Asuma-sensei he is the strongest Jonin in the village right now so he could definitely hide his presence from us Genin, but if yesterday and what Asuma-sensei is anything to go by he might just be genuinely late.

"Hey guys." I said, grabbing the attention of my two teammates.

Naruto looked at me drowsily while Sasuke expectantly waited for whatever it is I was going to say.

"I truthfully think he's just going to be late again. So why don't we do something productive." I told them.

"I was starting to think the same thing. What do you have in mind?" Sasuke asked.

That was when I heard all of our stomachs grumble. I sheepishly rub the back of my head.

"How about some food first of all? We all seem pretty hungry." I said.

"Ehhh? Didn't Kakashi-sensei specifically tell us not to eat or else we wood puke?" Naruto asked, worry etched onto his face.

"Well yeah, but if he isn't going to be here for the next couple of hours then I don't see the point in going hungry. If we eat now then most likely our food will have digested by the time he arrives. Also so what if we puke? We all want to be ninja, puking is pretty low on the danger scale if you ask me." I replied, pulling out some onigiri for the three of us to eat.

"Wait you prepared food for something like this?" Naruto asked in shock. Eyes going wide.

"It really isn't that impressive dobe, calm down. This is supposed to be a survival test. Truthfully Kakashi telling all of us not to eat is probably a way for us to be weakened by the the time the test starts. Arata and I talked last night and decided to prepare in case something like this happened, here." Sasuke said, passing Naruto a piece of onigiri.

Naruto took the offered food before sitting down on the ground. He just kind of stared at it for a second before consuming it in without any sense of decency. How someone could demolish onigiri in such a way baffled me.

"I'm guessing you liked it?" I asked the blonde.

Naruto looked at me cheerfully. "Yeah Arata! For something as bland as onigiri you sure know how to make it taste pretty good. Never thought you knew how to cook though."

'What's that supposed to mean?' I thought.

"Umm, Naruto. Making something like onigiri really isn't hard, and is it really that surprising that I know how to cook?"

"Not really I guess. You definitely seem more likely to cook than teme. He has a stick too far up his ass to cook." Naruto replied.

I tried to hold back the laughter after Naruto's backhanded comment at Sasuke but it was all for naught when Sasuke appeared behind Naruto and smacked him in the back of the head.

"I don't have a stick up my ass dobe, don't forget who gave you the food in the first place." Sasuke said looking peeved, while Naruto was rubbing the back of his head in pain.

'Alright, might as well stop this now before it escalates.'

"Hey guys, I would love to see you guys beat the shit out of each other, but we should get ready for this survival test Kakashi has for us. If he's not here we might as well try and get used to the layout of the land." I told them.

Sasuke backed away from Naruto, walking towards the center of the training ground.

"Fine, I could beat the dobe whenever anyways." Sasuke looked back at the two of us.

"Come on Arata, you were the one that suggested we get familiar with the area, and Naruto."

The blonde looked at Sasuke expectantly.

"Try not to slow us down." Sasuke finished before dashing off.

"That Teme! I'll show him he's not any better than me. Come on Arata we can't let him get ahead of us." Naruto yelled before dashing off as well.

I couldn't help but sigh before scratching the back of my head.

"Don't drag me in your one-sided rivalry." I muttered before joining the two of them. However on the inside I was happy with the team dynamic we have going on right now. Sasuke doesn't talk to anyone that often outside of myself, and Naruto, well most people just don't like Naruto.

'Yeah. This can work. This team can work.' I thought. The trees flying past me as I caught up with Sasuke and Naruto.

XxXxXx

"Alright so what do we know?" I asked. It's been a couple of hours after we finished scouting the area.

"Training ground three is surprisingly large. Besides this small open lake like area we're at now there is another flat clearing past the tree cover to the right of us. If need be we can use the treeline for cover. It's thick and covers a pretty large area. We still have no idea what this survival test will consist of, but if it comes to combat then staying here or moving to the other clearing would be ideal. If we just have to survive for a designated amount of time then hiding in the trees is what I suggest." Sasuke replied.

I nodded my head, agreeing with my cousin's observation.

"Naruto do you have any suggestions?"

Looks like Naruto wasn't fully with us when we started discussing strategy, because when I asked for his input he just had this really dumb look on his face.

"Umm what were you saying? Sorry it just sounded really boring." Naruto said.

I looked at the blonde in amazement, and not in the good way. Sasuke looked as if he was trying not to have an aneurism.

"Nevermind Naruto. Just follow us." I told him.

"Cool, I can do that." He said with a big smile on his face.

"Alright, well then next we should-"

"Good morning ducklings!" A voice calls out across the field

do you know what, nevermind. Of course he chooses now to show up.

"Hey what's the deal? You're late again! Arata and Sasuke were totally right about you not showing up on time. Why tell us to meet up so early if you weren't going to be here?" Naruto exclaimed.

"I'm really sorry about that. You see a black cat crossed my path so I had to find another way to get here. Then an old lady needed my assistance crossing the road so I couldn't leave her alone being the good person I am." Kakashi explained smiling through his mask. Having reached where the three of us were gathered.

"That is complete shit Kakashi, I feel like you just enjoy doing this because it amuses you." I told him.

Kakashi turned his attention towards me.

"Kakashi-SENSEI my little duckling. Show your sensei some respect." He said, wagging a finger at me, which truthfully ticked me off a little.

"According to you we're not actual Genin until we pass your test, so you're also not our SENSEI until that point either." I shot back.

"Oh? Looks like you have some backbone. I expected this kind of behavior from Sasuke, but it's nice to see that the other Uchiha doesn't hide behind his brooding cousin."

I think I saw a small tick mark appear on Sasuke's head after that comment.

Kakashi turned his back towards us and walked to the center of the clearing.

"Anyways let me explain what's going to happen here." Kakashi said while pulling out two bells.

"You're goal is to get these bells from me. If you take them from me before noon then you win and become Genin. Nice and simple, right?" Kakashi explained.

"Eh? But there's only two bells, what gives?" Naruto questioned.

"Exactly. The reason for that is because I only want the two best out of the three of you. So no matter what at least one of you is being sent back to the academy." Kakashi answered.

My eye's widened in shock. What kind of situation was this? No matter what happened one of us was going to be sent back to the academy? That can't be right… Tradition points to Genin teams being made of three Genin and one Jonin leader. But at the same time Kakashi doesn't seem like a practical person. He could be serious about all of this.

I looked around to see Sasuke and Naruto's reactions and they seemed to be just as shocked as I was. This isn't good.

"One last thing, whoever doesn't get a bell will also be tied to one of the posts set up here and watch as the rest of us eat lunch." Kakashi said with his signature eye smile.

'Well that explains the real reason why he didn't want us to eat breakfast. What a sadist, that's just cruel.' I thought.

Kakashi pulled out a clock and started setting the time. "Make sure you come at me with the intent to kill, or else none of you will even be able to touch me. When I say 'start' we can begin."

The three of us tensed up ready to move at a moment's notice.

"Start."

Sasuke and I instantly moved to the tree line intent on waiting for an opportunity to strike. I looked around to see if Naruto joined us but was shocked to see he wasn't with us. 'Where is he? I told him to stick with us.'

"That idiot. He's right in the middle of the clearing." Sasuke hissed.

'What?!'

I looked back into the clearing and saw that Naruto was indeed still there having a staredown with Kakashi.

"What is he thinking? He can't think he can take down Kakashi on his own." I whispered.

I couldn't hear what they were saying but truthfully it doesn't matter. Knowing Naruto he probably boasted about how he was going to kick Kakashi's ass. I don't know what techniques Naruto has under his sleeve but going off of his academy scores I know for a fact he can't take on a Jonin. Especially not one of Kakashi's caliber if what I researched last night is anything to go by.

"Sasuke. We're going to have to help him." I told my cousin.

He looked at me like he was expecting me to say that I was kidding, but I was not joking around.

"You're serious about this aren't you? We could take on Kakashi on our own. We work well enough together to at least get the bells." Sasuke said. However I thought otherwise.

"Sasuke I did some research on Kakashi yesterday to see what we might be up against. A lot of the info around him is blacked out but I was able to find out he made Chunin by six and Jonin by thirteen. We might be good, but there is no way we can take him on with just us. I truthfully doubt we can take him on with all three of us working perfectly together." I told him.

If there was one thing that Sasuke understood it was power. He believes in his own skill and mine but he tends to overestimate himself and underestimate the opposition. However given a reality call he'll accept facts for what they are and the fact is Kakashi is powerful.

"Tsk. Fine, you have a point there. If Kakashi really did do what you said he did then he really is in another league of his own." Sasuke begrudgingly admitted.

Good. Now that we agree we can support Naruto. I stood up to go assist the blonde prankster when Sasuke grabbed hold of my wrist.

"I thought we were on the same page?" I hissed at my cousin.

"We are, but take a quick look. Those clones Naruto made. They're solid. We can use that. I don't know how the dobe learned a technique like that but it's good to analyze it and see the applications. Give him a moment so we can see what he can do." Sasuke said. I was shocked by Sasuke's words. Solid clones take a good bit of chakra, especially for Genin and Naruto was never able to make a good clone in the academy. However it seemed that what Sasuke said was true. Naruto's clones were throwing punches and trying to land a hit on Kakashi who was just dodging through the clones and dispelling each of them with one placed hit.

"Fine." I agreed. I didn't like leaving Naruto to fend for himself but Sasuke had a point. With us being able to study the fight we can better confront Kakashi when we join in.

From what it looks like Naruto's clones can definitely be a useful tool, but Kakashi seemed to pay them no mind. He actually seemed to be paying more attention to the book in his hand than he was towards Naruto. However Naruto seemed to be able to create the clones almost indefinitely they just kept coming.

The scene eventually turned into a full on brawl when Kakashi substituted himself with one of the clones. Despite the clones usefulness they seemed to have the same intellectual capacity of the blonde himself which is sad to say not too much… He seems to be able to improvise well but he was still Naruto.

"Sasuke. I think we've seen enough let's go." I said.

He nodded in response. That was when something caught my eye. Kakashi appeared behind Naruto and was that a tiger seal he was forming?

"NOW SASUKE!" I yelled, and formed the tigers seal myself, before I flickered away and appeared beside Kakashi, kunai at the ready and slashing down towards his face.

I had the satisfaction of noticing the small glimpse of surprise on his face before he backed away from what I assumed was the real Naruto. However Sasuke sent a flurry of shuriken at the spot Kakashi landed. The Jonin living up to his ran was able to catch the shuriken out of mid-air and send them right back towards where Sasuke was hidden. Forcing him to leave his position, and join the rest of us.

"Oh my, that was scary. I was wondering when you two were going to join in. I truthfully expected you guys to leave Naruto in the dust and take me on by yourselves." Kakashi said. He seemed mildly impressed.

"Well we thought better on it. Fighting against someone who made Jounin at thirteen kind of makes someone rethink taking you on without all the help they can get." I replied, kunai at the ready.

"Wait you mean this scarecrow made Jounin at thirteen!" Naruto exclaimed. He seemed amazed by the fact.

"Oh? Someone did their research. However that little bit of information isn't really going to help you out. You're all still terribly outclassed." Kakashi said cheerfully.

'He's right about that. I doubt we can actually get the bells from him.' I thought.

"Naruto, how many more clones do you think you can make?" I asked.

"Heh, I still have plenty of juice left in me. Believe it Arata, what do you need me to do?" Naruto asked.

I looked at Sasuke and he seemed to understand what I was thinking.

"Use your clones as a distraction. They're really good at causing chaos. Also here." I passed Naruto a pouch I had in my holster of ninja tools. "You're the number one prankster in the village so I'm sure you can find a good use for these." I told him.

He looked at the contents of the pouch and a mad grin appeared on his face. "You got it Arata. Now Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Ten more blonde knuckleheads poofed into existence beside me.

"I can wait all day for you little ducklings. I'm not the one working on a time limit." Kakashi said.

'He's right.' I thought.

"Sasuke, Naruto. Let's go!" I said. Dashing at the Jounin the ten clones behind me while Sasuke approached Kakashi from his left.

I reached Kakashi first, opening with turning roundhouse at his face we ducked under. However Sasuke was at Kakashi's side the next moment throwing a side kick at the crouched Jounin. Kakashi caught it with ease but wasn't able to capitalize on it as the ten Naruto clones jumped in the air, ready to send a flurry of fists down at the silver haired man.

Kakashi let go of Sasuke's leg and jumped away to avoid the barrage of Naruto's coming at him. 'Having one arm occupied by a book really sucks doesn't it you scarecrow.' I thought.

I threw a couple kunai at Kakashi's retreating form but the Jounin nimbly dodged the weapons. Putting his book away in the process.

"Wow, I'm actually going to have to use two hands. Good job you three." Kakashi said mockingly.

He didn't have any time to continue talking however as Sasuke closed the distance and sent a kick at Kakashi's stomach. The Jounin blocked the attack, but Sasuke wasn't done yet sending a punch right at Kakashi's masked face. That blow was also blocked, and before Sasuke could try anything else Kakashi threw him into a group of three Naruto clones, causing them to disperse.

I dashed at Kakashi, not wanting to give him a moment of respite and sent a combo of high speed slashes at the Jounin with my kunai. The upper arm, collarbone, windpipe, diaphragm, temple, ribs, and thighs. Kakashi was able to dodge every single one of my attacks but it looked as if there was some respect for the attempt. I was trying to maim him with each hit after all.

I barely raised my arms up in time to block the kick the Jounin sent my way after my barrage of slashed, and I'm happy he did. He has some serious power behind him! The attack sent me off my feet, but I righted myself in midair and threw the kunai I had in hand at his testicles. Yeah, low blow. I know.

Sadly Kakashi was able to catch the weapon before turning to face the 7 remaining Naruto clones, quickly dispatching them with the kunai he recently acquired. Then in one fluid motion Kakashi turned around and sent the kunai back at me. The kunai was heading towards my own jewels.

'Shit.'

I quickly used a shunshin to get away from harm's way, and positioned myself near my teammates.

"Naruto have you thought of a way to use the stuff I gave you?" I asked the blonde.

He just gave me a knowing smirk, so I'm guessing he did.

"Who do you take me for, of course I did! Just distract Kakashi-baka long enough for my big surprise to come into action." Naruto replied.

"You heard that Sasuke? Let's go." I said to my cousin.

"Hn." Was the only reply I got, but that was all I needed. Kakashi just stood patiently on his side of the training ground. Well let's see how he handles this.

I focused my chakra and flickered across the clearing. It took more out of me than I would like to admit. Not having mastered the use of the technique in an offensive manner yet, and having already used it multiple times, but it was good enough. Kakashi blinked at me in surprise as I appeared before him much faster than what he anticipated. Throwing a couple punches his way, forcing him to deflect them, I ended with a sweep, causing Kakashi to jump in the air. I then backflipped, my feet connecting with Kakashi's arms as he blocked my attack. My job was done though as my kick sent Kakashi farther up in the air right into Sasuke's spin kick.

I was happy to note that the blow sent Kakashi back a little bit. Keeping up the pressure Sasuke and I simultaneously wove the hand signs for our next attack. The two of us each taking a deep breath.

" **Fire style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"**

A blazing ball of flame emerged from each of our mouths, intent on incinerating the Jounin. When the scorching inferno died down we saw no trace of Kakashi.

"Wait, where is he?" I asked Sasuke.

My cousin looked just as confused until a hand appeared out of the ground below me and grabbed onto my leg. Luckily Sasuke threw a kunai at Kakashi's hand, making the Jounin retract his hand back underground. After a tense couple seconds I felt trembling in the ground and prepared for Kakashi to emerge once more. What I didn't expect was for Kakashi to break out of the ground with a bunch of clones of Naruto chasing after him.

I was confused as to why Kakashi was running away from the clones instead of quickly dispatching them like he did earlier. That was until I heard the sizzling noise and saw the explosive tags planted on each of the clones.

'Holy shit, so that's what he did with the tags I gave him.' I thought in awe.

Kakashi looked like he was about to get away until one more Naruto grabbed onto him from behind.

"Got you now you one-eyed bastard!" The Naruto yelled before all the remaining Narutos surrounded Kakashi from all sides, exploding in a glorious ball of fire.

"Hell yeah! That was so awesome! Good job buying me time guys." Naruto said coming up to Sasuke and I with a huge grin on his face.

I was still amazed by what Naruto pulled off. "How did you manage to get all those clones underground?" I asked him.

"Hehe, I'm Konoha's most unpredictable ninja. That's all you need to know." Naruto replied. Still smiling like he won the lottery. But I couldn't disagree with him.

"Even I'm impressed dobe. I didn't think you could do something like that." Sasuke said.

Naruto's face adopted a look of pure amusement.

"Finally admitting that I'm better than you Sasuke? I knew you would come to see the greatness that is Naruto Uzumaki eventually." Naruto said smugly.

"Definitely not dobe. Don't make me regret giving you a compliment this one time." Sasuke retorted.

"Yes, even I have to admit that what you did was unexpected. The execution of having a bunch of shadow clones with explosive tags on them wait for me from underground was definitely unique." A familiar voice said from behind the three of us.

We turned around, amazed to see that Kakashi was standing there brushing of some soot and dirt from his clothes, but other than that completely fine.

"How did you-"

"I am the village's top Jounin Arata. Something like that wouldn't put me down." Kakashi interrupted.

After Kakashi said those words a loud ringing was heard across the training ground.

"Well it seems like it's noon, and I still have the bells. I guess that means you fail. Or at least you all should fail, but I was impressed with your teamwork so I'll take two of you. So which of you three is going to be sent back to the academy?" Kakashi asked the three of us with one of those blasted eye smiles of his.

'Seriously. How does he expect us to decide that.' I thought looking between my comrades. I can tell that Sasuke wants us two to be selected, but I can't morally take this away from Naruto. I know for a fact I would be able to pass the academy again, but do I really wanna be left behind Sasuke for a year? Maybe I could take this to the Hokage…

After what seemed like an eternity I made my decision.

"I'll go back to the academy." I firmly stated.

Sasuke looked at me in shock, and Naruto also had a look of surprise on his face. Knowing him he was also probably about to volunteer to head back to the academy.

"Naruto's worked way too hard to become a ninja, and Sasuke needs this more than me right now. I can always catch up. I am an Uchiha after all." I said confidently, but on the inside I was feeling empty. I truthfully didn't want to go back.

"Alrighty then, now that that's settled we can-"

"No." Sasuke interrupted Kakashi.

"No?" Kakashi asked looking at Sasuke curiously.

"Yeah. No. I'm not going anywhere without Arata, so it seems like you're just going to have one Genin, Kakashi. I told Arata we were going to be on the same team, and I'm sticking by that. If he's going then I'm going." Sasuke said, turning around walking off towards the exit of training ground three

I gave Naruto an apologetic look, before I turned around as well, joining Sasuke.

"What gives! I was about to offer to leave and then you had to be so noble Arata. Even Sasuke teme said he was going back to the academy. We only did this well because we were working together as a team. If you guys are leaving so am I, I'm an unstoppable force. One more year at the academy won't stop Naruto Uzumaki. You better believe that!" Naruto yelled. Before turning around to join Sasuke and I. I think I saw some tears in his eyes though.

"Now hold up for just a moment." I heard Kakashi call out.

The three of us stopped momentarily and saw Kakashi shunshin in front of us.

"I would like to inform the three of you of one last thing. You all pass." Kakashi said with what I think was a genuine smile through his mask.

'Wait… What?' My face probably projecting my confusion before it finally hit me. 'Oh you cunning bastard.'

"What do you mean we all pass?" Naruto asked the big question.

"Naruto. I think the whole goal of the test was to see our teamwork." I said, giving the blonde my best guess, but I was looking at Kakashi for confirmation.

"Ah yes, Arata here seems to finally realize what the goal truly was. I mean really, did you really think three Genin could retrieve something from the villages top Jounin? No. The goal was to see if you three could put work cohesively together as a team." Kakashi said.

"Then why were there only two bells? You could have still tested our teamwork if you had three bells." Sasuke said.

"That was to see if you three would turn on each other for a chance to get a bell. I was pleasantly surprised to see that you all didn't." Kakashi then looked at me. "I was even more surprised when it was one of the two Uchiha who gave up the chance to be a ninja first considering your history. You see, there's a lesson behind all of this." Kakashi paused for a moment.

"Those who abandon the mission are scum." The silver haired Jounin then looked each of us in the eye. "But those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum. I am pleased to say that the now formed Team Seven is not worse than scum. Good job you three." Kakashi said giving us a thumbs up.

"YEAH! We did it guys! We're ninja, We're really ninja now!" Naruto said excitedly, putting his arms around mine and Sasuke's shoulders. I just kind of let it happen, but Sasuke was trying to get the blonde to let go of him.

"Well I think that's enough excitement for one day. Team Seven will meet for their first assignment tomorrow. Feel free to take the rest of the day off." Kakashi told us before disappearing in a flurry of leaves.

Eventually Naruto let go of me and Sasuke, after Sasuke punched him in the stomach, but the blonde still kept on smiling, and even Sasuke had a small smile on his face.

'Yeah. This team can definitely work.' I thought, truly satisfied with how everything turned out.


End file.
